Ministry Decision Number 222 / 2013 promulgated on 20th April, made effective from 1 July 2013,Published in Official Gazette 1010.

a. The MOM 222/2013 specifies provision of OMR 225 as basic salary and OMR 100 as “allowances” (325 OMR).There is no specific explanation of demarcates and/or segmentation of the term “allowances”, apropos the said Ministerial decision thus it is interpretatively understood that it must be read with (R/w) the governing law.

Ministerial decree 32/2012 -of 3% increment for all employees.

Under the law it is mandatory for all employers to give increment by 3 % to their employees effective from 30th Jan 2012, failing which they would face penalties. This mandatory 3 % increment applies to both Omanis (national workforce) and expatriates.
As per the mandate every employee who has been working for his employer for at least 6 months as of Jan 1st of such year shall be entitled to receive an annual increase to his basic salary for such year equal to at least 3% of his previous year’s basic salary. This 3 % is a minimum parameter and is without prejudice to more favorable terms to the employee as stated in the employment contract.
For computation of “allowance” or increment, the variance of figure, is not of prime importance, but rather compliance with the 3 % norm, it can be more than 3 % but never less. Moreover Ref to Internal HR Regulation provisions should be referred to. However the law clearly stands for the best interest of the employee, where even if the law contradicts any specific provision of an individual employment contract, which provision may assure more benefit than that laid down in the law; Then: The employment contract provisions shall be given precedence over the law, only to the extent of that particular beneficial provision in the interest of an employee enumerated in the employment contract. Ref Article 6 of Oman Labour law.
This new allowance provision shall not deter the employer from executing benefits/privileges agreed earlier by the employee and employee, reflected in the employment contract or even in the HR Manual/PPP.
Good performance of an employee (performance reviews/appraisals), entails mandatory compliance to 3 % increment.
*However, in case of bad performance: Not entitled

Advice: to counsel the said employee (then place on record) and grant concomitant increment (to reflect on record)at a considerable rate as a measure to boost the morale of the employee, which goes to prove on record that the company has a fair policy to handle employee grievances.
It goes without saying, that a totally bad employee, who has low performance to the core, backed with some kind of indiscipline, normally attracts disciplinary proceeding against himself,/warning letters etc. It is suggested that even in such cases, there shall be usage of corrective mechanism as the first option to handle employee, all of which shall be maintained and documented as express records.
Thus: a) A good “Grievance Redressal Mechanism “as an internal device at the company is a must. That apart provision in (Article 105 and 120 of labour law) shall be complied.

b) Establish excellent performance appraisal system.

c) Propagate, instill, inculcate, educate employees on the benefit that they can earn for improved contribution, better performance; such as “fair performance-fair pay rule”

It must be imbibed that the calculated principles laid down in the law /Executive/Ministerial regulations are all minimum basics, or so to say the pecuniary parameters to which an employee is entitled to enjoy/receive.

Thus the law necessitates that the benefit of the employee (expat/Omani-both) precedes all other conditions. Hence employees’ interests and rights have to be primarily considered, in dealing with any employee grievance or general matters.A.6 of Oman labour law.

The science of “overall development “demands a holistic approach.

Inability of an employee to earn an increment should be seen as lack of proper employee guidance tools, motivational techniques, communication gap, thus unhealthy work environment, having a butterfly-effect, with disorientation of the company’s affairs at the helm. However positive handling of affairs with motivation/negotiation to/with employee would yield better productivity, which in turn would contribute to the company’s sustainability and growth, leading to concretizing the overall economic structure.

Therefore I would prefer positing, that, in the light of the comprehensive Oman labour law, with its executive and legislative/Ministerial provisions as mandatory ramifications:

In employee related matters, I would prefer calling it as –

“The Most Beneficial Provision” – Rule;

to be applied, in the best interest of the employee as a whole, leading to contented workmen, concretized corporate structure, market sustenance, overall economic development and advancement of the nation as a whole.

By Henrietta Newton Martin,

Legal Practitioner,

at MI Law firm, Sohar,Oman.

Sultanate of Oman

email : h.newtonm@mail.com

etta295@yahoo.co.in

Note: the above interpretation of the ministerial decision are exclusive views of the author,Ms Henrietta Newton Martin.

Using the material without authorised permission would be at your own risk and also attract legal penalties for unauthorised copy and use.

***********************************************************

‘All text available in this site is subject to the copyrights law.

Using the material in this site,or in the articles/legal views,without authorised permission of the author /owner of the site; and testing the veracity of its contents,you would be doing so at your own risk.

Can the employer reduce the existing allowances to match the 100 OMR criteria, with the aim to have a complete figure of 325 OMR.

Let us address the issue with an example:

Example:

The employee’s basic as per his contract is 180

Allowance was = 135 OMR

Thus total – 315 OMR

After the new ministerial decision the employer changes it to the employee’s basic as per his contract as OMR 225 (basic increased) and Allowance as OMR 100 (allowance decreased from 135 to 100 OMR) all with the aim of meeting 325 OMR criteria.

Thus total – 325 OMR

The above calculation in the new arrangement/contract would be considered inconsistent with the law because, previously allotted allowance is reduced from 135 to 100 OMR, which would go against the spirit of the new promulgation and the law as a whole, especially A. 6 of Labour law.
The employer shall increase the basic and/or allowances in the light of facts and circumstances of each case, to match the new mandate of 325 OMR; however shall not take back/reduce/retract from the contractual provision; that which was already allotted before in the employment contract.

Thus in the light of the above references and other anomalies, there is a need for an objective justification and demonstration of fairness by devising a mutually favorable pay structure, working its way through internal negotiation, recalibrating equilibrium between employer and employees in consonance with the laws, as a whole) .

By Henrietta Newton Martin,

Legal Practitioner,

at MI Law firm, Sohar,Oman.

Sultanate of Oman

email : h.newtonm@mail.com

etta295@yahoo.co.in

Note: the above interpretation of the ministerial decision are exclusive views of the author,Ms Henrietta Newton Martin.

Using the material without authorised permission would be at your own risk and also attract legal penalties for unauthorised copy and use.

***********************************************************

‘All text available in this site is subject to the copyrights law.

Using the material in this site,or in the articles/legal views,without authorised permission of the author /owner of the site; and testing the veracity of its contents,you would be doing so at your own risk.

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About Ms Henrietta Newton Martin

Legal Consultant
B.Com, LLB(gold medalist),LLM, (gold medalist),MMS (HR), etc
Henrietta Newton Martin is currently serving as a “Legal Consultant “at a leading service law firm in Oman. In addition she also partners a Professional Consulting Services organization in India.
Further, she is a Advisory Board Member of Global Development Foundation.
She has been prominent in her legal service and practice, for nine years. She assumed the role of legal consultant in Oman in the year 2011.
She practiced as a lawyer in India, at Mumbai High Court Goa bench, District courts, and other courts In Goa, India, with distinguished-victorious handling of Writ petitions at the High Court, and Appeals at District court to her credit. She handled cases under array of subjects and laws, from criminal to civil, consumer disputes, dishonour of cheques, railway disputes, personnel cases etc which has concretized her skills and instilled professionalism into her. She also served the corporate sector in the legal arena in Karnataka, India.
She delivered lectures in law and management subjects as a Guest faculty-Law/Management, to both UG and PG students, in Oxford College, India, by virtue of which she was even a university examination papers evaluator for a particular session.
In terms of Oman, Henrietta takes keen interest in law interpretation, unlocking and understanding of complex legal issues particularly in relation to the interface between different domestic sector laws and international laws that might affect multinational companies, even in the Labour law perspective.
She holds a Master of Laws Degree, in which she is a gold medalist, specializing in Human Rights and laws, similarly even in her Bachelor of Laws, she is a university topper, ranked first, and a gold medalist. She has also done numerous courses transcending her area of practice including special skills training in Human Resources Management and Administration. Henrietta is also a Bachelor of Commerce graduate- specializing in General/Personnel/Services Management, and Masters in Managerial Science, with specialization in HR.
She has exceptional research aptitude skills special expertise in Legal drafting, legal interpretation, industrial jurisprudence, and labour laws.
Her subject of interest is Constitutional laws

3 Responses to Minimum Salary Requirement for national workforce:labour law Oman

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